Lyla's Mistake
by KittyCatLove123
Summary: Lyla thought she was over Zac, but she wasn't. Her jealousy of him and Evie increases every day until she makes a mistake that may just break the special connection she thought she had with him forever, plus turn Evie into a mermaid. Nixie decides to trust Cam again and instantly a relationship forms. Sirena makes the choice to return to the pod, telling David her secret.
1. Prologue

_Lyla watched while Zac and Evie kissed silently, by the bubbling moon pool. Her invisiblility flickered and wore off, revealing her shadow in the darkness. A sudden surge of anger, jealousy, and want burst out of Lyla and out went a clenched fist, with the sparkling moon ring flashing vibrantly, and a bolt of blue magic exploded out, breaking Evie from Zac's grasp. There was a sickening splash in the shimmering pool, and then silence. Lyla felt as if her life had ended. No one would ever forgive her for this._


	2. What happened to Evie

"You did what?!" Nixie shouted at Lyla. (The yell could probably be heard all over Mako Island) Sirena bit her lip. Lyla put her head in her hands and sighed.

"I know, I'm so sorry. I felt…. Angry," she answered quietly, sinking her shoulders under the water.

"Lyla, you shouldn't have been spying on Zac and Evie in the first place," Sirena said softly, "Nothing would have happened then." Lyla slipped off the ledge in the pool where they sat.

"You two can tell Rita. I'm sure she'll be angrier if she hears it from me." That was the last thing she said before ducking under and propelling out of the underwater entrance.

"I'm sure it was just an accident." Sirena murmured.

"Yeah right," Nixie scoffed. "I'm pretty sure that Rita taught us to _control_ our rings."

"So, does this mean," Sirena whispered, looking up at the top hole of the volcano "that Evie is…"

"Only one way to find out," Nixie said.

After the two mermaids had zoomed away from Mako, and went to dry off on land, Nixie and Sirena arrived at the Ocean Café in a rush. "Evie's bound to be here," Nixie said confidently. She was right. There the land girl was, sitting at one of the tables, nibbling prawns. Sirena looked at David, but decided that this was more important. Just before they could go to Evie's table, Nixie spotted Lyla, over in the corner of the café, staring at Zac wistfully, who was walking over to sit with Evie.

"There," Nixie quickly told Sirena, ignoring Lyla. They scooted awkwardly over to where Zac and Evie were sitting, and they looked at them expectantly.

"What?" Zac said. Nixie blinked.

"We need to know about last night. What happened to Evie," she explained hurriedly.

"We're sorry about what Lyla did," Sirena added. Evie shrank in her chair.

"Well, I think _you_ know," Evie said quietly. Nixie and Sirena exchanged worried glances. Evie was a mermaid. Oh god.

"Listen, Evie, we are so sorry about this," Nixie exclaimed. "We'll make it right as soon as we can," She grabbed Sirena's arm, and pulled her outside. Lyla remained in the corner of the café, standing very still.

Evie turned back to Zac. "I…. I thought… that I could trust Lyla," she said quietly. Zac put his arm around her.

"Don't worry, Evie," he reassured her nervously. "Nixie and Sirena will help you, and so can I, and maybe we can confront Lyla another time," Evie looked out the window, at the sea.

"What am I supposed to do in the meantime," she whispered.

"You can learn about us, and we'll help you to get used to it," Zac replied. "I'll show you how to swim, and how to use your powers." Evie's head turned quickly.

"Powers?"

Zac laughed. He put out his hand at a glass of water on the table, and raised a tiny ball of water into the air. Evie 's face lit up. "That's so cool! Maybe I will get used to this," she grinned. Just when she was about to try, David swooped in with Zac's order of lobster. Zac immeadiatley stopped, and the water splashed on both him and Evie. Exchanging frightened looks, they both got up from the table and ran outside, diving into the sea. David looked out the window in confusion.

Lyla slowly walked out of the café and followed them. David heard another splash, but saw nothing. He left Zac's lobster on their empty table, and went over to the back of the shop and spoke to Carly.

"Where did they go?"

**NEXT CHAPTER COMING IN A DAY OR TWO**


	3. Northern Mermaid

"At the moment, this may not be much of a problem," Rita said, after listening to Sirena and Nixie's story about what happened. "But it's what this might lead to, that could cause something bad to happen,"

"Like what?" Sirena asked. Rita shrugged.

"Anything. One being, who knows what Cam might think after realizing all his friends are part of this now?" Nixie let out a long sigh.

"You'd think I'd let that happen," she muttered angrily. "After I thought I could trust that guy!" Sirena smiled sadly.

It had been almost an hour since Zac and Evie had plunged into the ocean beside the Ocean Café, and neither of them seemed to want to leave. Evie, at first, had a little trouble learning the correct way to swim, and Zac had showed her.

He demonstated how to zoom over the coral reefs, how to stay under for more than half an hour. One thing that he noticed, was the colour of Evie's tail. It was silver, unlike Lyla, Nixie and Sirena's golden scales. Not knowing that Lyla was watching.

At first he shrugged it off, thinking it was probably normal for different coloured tails to occur on mermaids, but then he remembered Principal Santos's tail, and Siren's sister's that time he came across her in the sea. Both were also a coppery, golden shade.

Maybe he would need to investigate, and ask the mermaids about it.

The next day, Evie came to his house early in the morning. "I found my power!" she said as she pushed open the door and went over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Cool," Zac replied. "Show me," Evie held out her hand at a glass of water on the window. It froze to solid ice. "Whoah!" Zac exclaimed. "That power's quite rare, I don't have it, neither do Nixie or Sirena. Lyla does, though." Evie accidently jerked her hand a bit more.

"Whoops!" Snowflakes drifted down from the ceiling. Zac pulled her back.

"Caredul not to touch that. You could get snow rash."

"Snow rash?"

It was too late, one of them landed on her fingertip. Ten second later, she was on the ground, her silver tail gone slap on the floor. "Whoops," she laughed.

Zac glanced at her arms. Why didn't she have a rash? Could this be to do with the fact she had a silver tail?

"Guys, you'll never believe what I just saw!" Lyla burst into Rita's room, where all heads turned to her.

"Good, we do need some explanations from you," Rita answered, Sirena and Nixie behind her.

"Come on guys, there isn't time for that now," Lyla said breathlessly. "Evie has a silver tail!"

"You were spying on her?" Nixie raised her eyebrows.

Rita looked curious. "Tell us more,"

"There isn't much to tell. I was swimming close by, and she had silver scales! And no! It wasn't a tick of the light!" Lyla exclaimed in a rush. Rita thought for a few moments. "You know anything about her family?" she asked. Lyla shook her head indignantly. "Why would I know that?"

"Well, she may have had ancestors that -"

Zac ran into the room and interrupted. "Why isn't Evie like you?" This time, all heads turned to him. Except for Lyla's, who's lowered as she looked at the ground in shame.

"She has a silver tail, she has the power to make ice, and she didn't get snow rash when she touched it!" he said. Zac waited for their response. Lyla had disappeared out the door at this point.

"Yes, Lyla was just talking to us about it." Nixie smirked. "She was spying on you."

"Never mind about Lyla," Zac went on. "What's with Evie and her differences!"

Rita looked at Sirena and Nixie. "Remember when I told you about how you were southern mermaids?" They both nodded. "Well, it's most likely that Evie had ancestors that were northern mermaids, who adapted to colder climates."

Sirena nodded. "That makes sense. How come Lyla can freeze things, though?"

"The power to create ice and snow can occur in southern mermaids, though it's rare. Same with northern mermaids, some of them – not many, can boil and evaporate water or create fire and lightning." Said Rita.

"Oh, okay," Zac replied, looking relieved. "So… what are we gong to do? Try and get rid of her powers?"

"I have no idea." Rita sighed.


	4. Lyla's Sorrow

"So… I'm different from Lyla Sirena and Nixie ?" Evie asked in confusion. Zac nodded.

"Do you know much about your family?"

"No, not really."

"Did they all come from Australia?"

She thought for a while. "Um, I don't think so, some of my ancestors were American." Zac nodded.

"That makes sense." He said.

"Why?"

"I'll tell you later. Wanna go down to the beach?"

"Okay."

Zac and Evie walked down the sand, holding their shoes and talking. They didn't know that someone was watching. It wasn't Lyla, though.

Cam walked on the other side, sneaking looks at them every few moments. Then he stood on a sharp shell.

"Ow!" He bent down and rubbed his foot, then put on his sandals. Then he heard a sudden, strong wave wash in on the shore. He immediately jerked his head up. The water splashed over Zac and Evie's feet. Cam waited for Zac to dive into the water, and leave his girlfriend on the beach, but to his surprise, they both jumped in. A blue tail and a silver tail flipped over and disappeared in to the aqua waves. Cam ran over, but they were already gone.

A rush of anger, betrayal, and hurt engulfed him. So Zac wanted Evie to be a fish, but not him. What was that supposed to mean? That his best mate never cared about him in the first place? He wanted to leave him out of the group and ditch him in the land dwelling world? Him out of everybody else?

Cam stomped away from the beach and went home.

Sirena, Nixie, and Lyla stood facing eachother in Rita's cave.

"Now can be the time you explain to us why you did what you did,"

Nixie folded her arms and looked Lyla in the eye. Lyla didn't answer. "Wait, I bet I know what it was. You like him. You're jealous, so you used your moon ring." Nixie was almost smug.

"I didn't mean to do something to Evie," Lyla muttered, knowing she was trapped. "I got angry."

"Since when do your feelings control your ring?" Nixie continued.

"Nixie, you know she regrets what she did," Sirena interrupted. "I'm sure she's sorry, so why don't we forget about the past and work on how we can make things right in the now."

Nixie ignored her. "I suppose Rita will have to confiscate your ring now that we all know you don't have the sense to, I don't know, control it?!" Her voice was rising to a shout at this point.

"Nixie, It's over!" Sirena protested, tugging her arm.

Nixie shook her head. "And that's the second land dweller that you helped fall in that pool!" she went on yelling.

Lyla's eye's widened, and she clenched her fists. "Zac was an accident!" she screamed angrily. She ran out of the room and dove into Rita's pool.

Sirena sighed sadly. Nixie frowned and walked off.

Lyla walked down the street, desperately holding back tears. Why did she do it. Why.

It was all her fault Evie was a mermaid, and Nixie couldn't have made her feel worse about it. What would Zac think of her now, after all this. Did he know about her feelings for him? Lyla stopped walking, and sat down under a tree.

She thought that she had a special connection with Zac, him being a merman and her a mermaid. Memories of her and him swimming together through the ocean washed over her mind like the tide on sand. Evie had that unique love and affection with him now. Lyla knew that she would never get the chance to do that ever again.

Unless Evie changed back.

Zac and Evie sat on the ledge, dangling their legs over the edge, where the green-blue water rippled beneath their shoes. "I really didn't want this to happen, you know," Zac whispered, looking at his hands.

Evie nodded. "Me neither. But is Lyla okay? It was an accident, right?"

Zac glanced up at her. "I don't know, Evie."

"How will I be changed back?" Evie asked. Zac looked over across the sea at Mako.

"We're working on it, don't you worry." He answered reassuringly. Though inside he really wasn't sure.


	5. Cam and Nixie

Nixie sat in the Ocean Café, stirring her drink absentmindedly with the straw. A frown creased her pretty face as she thought about Lyla, and how stupid she'd been. Would she ever accept that Evie and Zac would stay together no matter what?

Then she heard somebody walking into the café, and she looked up to see Cam, who looked just as angry as her. At first she glared at him and turned away, but then she looked back at him again. He was approaching her.

"Look Cam, if you're here to trick me into helping you with your stupid ideas, now is the worst possible time!" she snapped. Cam looked surprised.

"No, that isn't it. I'm not like that anymore." He said, sitting down opposite her at the table.

"Go away, Cam." Nixie muttered, sighing and resting her head on her hands. Cam didn't go away.

"Why are you upset?" he asked. "Wait – don't tell me. It has something to do with Evie, doesn't it?"

"How do you know?" she glanced up at him.

"I… noticed." Cam said.

"Well, I'm angry at Lyla. It was her who caused Evie to fall in the pool," Nixie growled. "Now our chances of being welcomed back into the pod are ruined again."

Cam nodded in understanding. "Sometimes, I wish things were back the way they were before any of this happened. Nothing could have gone wrong." He replied.

Nixie gave a tiny smile. "Then you're the only one who understands me, then."

They both stared at eachother for a few moments. Then they leaned forward and their lips touched. Nixie jerked her head back, alarmed. But slowly, she went forward again, and the two kissed silently.

Zac stood on the beach, alone, staring out at the sea. Lyla slowly stepped toward him from behind.

"Zac." She whispered.

Zac looked behind him, and when his eyes fell on Lyla, he sighed and looked away.

She walked closer. "You're probably so angry with me, so much I couldn't even imagine, but I want you to know that I never wanted this to happen," she continued quietly. "I never felt this way before, and I was just so angry that I couldn't control myself."

Zac didn't look up, but Lyla knew he was listening.

"The thing is, the first time I saw you, I wanted to be with you. But Evie got in the way of it, and I couldn't change that. But I had a special connection with you, Zac, I guess it was me being a mermaid, you being a merman. And now Evie's taken that. I probably never will get to swim with you ever again."

She finished speaking, and glanced at him anxiously. She'd revealed it all to him now.

Zac wiped a tear from his eyes.

"Th – thanks for sharing that with me, Lyla," his voice shook painfully as he spoke the words.

"I uh, I'm going for a swim. I need time to think." He stepped closer to the water, glanced back at Lyla with a sorrowful look in his eyes, and he silently dove into the rippling ocean.

Lyla breathed slowly, still staring out at the sea. She turned slowly away from the beach and started to walk in the opposite direction. But she stopped.

Lyla ran back and leapt into the blue waves after Zac.

Evie stood at Rita's doorstep, and hesitated before pressing the doorbell. Sirena answered the door, and let her in.

"Hi, I'm sorry for coming over like this, but I think we all should talk," Evie began. "I need to know, well, about the um, recent developments, and how we can sort things out."

Sirena nodded in understanding. "Yes, of course you can." She replied nervously, looking up the stairs where Nixie leaned against the wall.

Once they had sat down in Rita's cave, Nixie started.

"I'll bet Lyla's been awful to you since the terrible incident," she babbled loudly while Sirena frowned disapprovingly. "You know she really wants Zac all to herself."

Evie looked surprised.

"Not excactly… she hasn't actually spoken to me since." Evie answered.

Nixie laughed.

"Of course not! She'll be too busy trying to get your boyfriend to ditch you and be with her. Why else would she use her powers on you?"

Sirena glared at her.

"Nixie!" she cried, shoving her arm.

Evie bit her lip. What if Nixie was right?

"I have a feeling that this may be not the best time to discuss this. I'm going for a swim." She decided.

"So am I." Nixie agreed. "I'm tired of sorting out problems with land people involved."

Sirena watched as the two dark haired girls stood up and went to the other room to get to Rita's pool that connected to the ocean. Two splashes were heard, and Sirena was left alone in the house.

Nixie swam ahead of Evie, and zoomed straight ahead, where Mako was close by. Evie soon got the hang of going faster, and they swam side by side.

There was a clear area of water up ahead, and Nixie decided to lead the way that way.


	6. Take away what it gave

Zac was swimming towards a clear area of water. Once he stopped swimming, he closed his eyes and stayed suspended in the middle of the water, gently swishing his blue tail.

Lyla swam carefully up behind him, watched him from behind a large piece of coral.

Zac opened his eyes and sadness shimmered in his expression. Lyla knew this was the right time.

She slowly glided closer to him, until she was right behind him. He turned around, seeing her anxious face. Then he looked away miserably, staring into the clear water around him.

A few minutes went by and he finally faced her. Lyla looked into his eyes, and he gazed into hers.

He put his arms around her and they kissed. They kissed for a very long time. Still underwater, they wrapped themselves around eachother, their tails twining together. Lyla enjoyed the feel of his warm chest against hers, the love and connection that was realeased.

But she knew this would never last. Not when Evie was around.

Nixie and Evie swam through the dark aqua depths until they noticed two figures in the distance. Evie let out a rush of air from her lips when her eyes fell on Zac and Lyla. She burst into tears, even though they couldn't be seen underwater.

Nixie put her arm around Evie's trembling shoulders, and looked on angrily at the two merpeople. She was right. This was all Lyla wanted. And from now on she wasn't going to care.

Nixie beckoned for Evie to follow her, and the two mermaids zoomed away.

Lyla felt herself be released from Zac's grasp, and he swam back a little, regret, sadness, and tears glistening in his eyes. He left her alone, and his tail whipped faster as he propelled himself to Mako Island.

Lyla went after him frantically.

Zac surfaced in the moon pool seconds before Lyla's. He sat himself up on the edge, staring at the cave wall.

He shook his head sadly.

"This… my life… everything's just… too hard," his voice shook as he said the words. Lyla looked down miserably.

"I'm so sorry Zac," she whispered. "I should never have come. None of this would ever have happened."

"Don't say that," Zac insisted. "If it weren't for you, I'd have been killed by the trident, and I'd have suffered working out my new abilities on my own."

"But I've come between you and Evie. I ruined your love life," she answered, pulling herself up and sitting next to him.

Zac shook his head. 'It was my choice, to be close with you. I… love you."

Lyla gasped. "But you belong with Evie. I shouldn't have come. I should have been more –"

"Shhh." Zac held her hand, silencing her. "Ever since you came, I couldn't have been happier."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I love you too, Zac. More than you could imagine."

Sirena sobbed into her arms. Nothing worse could have happened. Lyla and Nixie had disagreements before, but nothing as serious as this. Perhaps it would be better if she left. Being a part of this dilemma was the last thing she wanted.

All her desires were, David, Aquata, and being a part of the pod again. Maybe it would be a better idea to just return to the pod, and leave Lyla and Nixie to sort this out on their own. But there was David. She had to say goodbye to David.

Sirena suddenly had an urge she never had before. To leave. To show David the secret and promise him she would come back one day.

That was what Sirena was going to do.

Cam had been searching the internet for nearly half an hour. He'd found something that he wasn't sure was true, but could be the solution to everyone's problems.

In a few weeks, would be the first time in 50 years that all the planets were aligned with the moon. Somebody named Lewis McCartney, and someone named Max Hamilton had done research on this.

Both of these people had posted online that this full moon could "take away what it gave." That was all that it said. Cam could tell this was something to do with Mako Island, because both of these people had done a lot of research on that place, and research on mermaids.

Cam had no idea about what they seemed to know, but focused on the information he needed.

Take away what it gave? So a mermaid or a merman could change back to human forever?


	7. Sirena's Decision

There was a knoc on Zac's door. He got up from the sofa and opened it. It was Evie. She stared into his eyes angrily, breathing hard.

"Evie, what's wro-" Zac began.

Evie hesitated, and then punched him in the face. Blood trickled down from his head, and he touched it in bewilderment.

"I thought you were someone I could love!" she exclaimed, stepping back with tears spilling from her eyes. She slammed the door in his face, and ran as fast as she could from the house.

Zac stood there, trembling for a few minutes, and then slowly lowered himself back down on the sofa.

He'd had a choice. Which of these choices could he accept without breaking someone's heart?

"Hey Nixie!" Cam called, running up behind her on the footpath. Nixie stopped walking and turned around, not looking very surprised.

"What is it now, Cam, we're in a relationship, can there possibly be any more questions asked?"

Cam grinned and put his arm around her.

"Come back to my place," he decided. "There's something I've figured out that just might solve all your problems!"

Once they arrived at Cam's house, he led her into the bedroom and closed the door. Nixie studied his belongings curiously while he turned on his computer.

Cam sifted through his saved documents hurriedly, then clicked on one. Nixie looked up and peered over his shoulder.

"This is copy and pasted from a website with information on the moon and Mako Island." Cam explained. "Take a look at this."

Nixie stared at the simple, black and white text.

_Posted 6:04 pm, 11__th__ March 2007_

_The full moon, for the first time in fifty years, is aligned with all the planets in the solar system. This creates extreme amounts of power to be realeased, and will take away what it gave. Beware._

_Posted by: lewis mccartney (Follower of Max Hamilton)_

Nixie's eyes widened and she screamed. She threw her arms around Cam and kissed him, hard.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" she squealed. "Cam, you are the most awesome guy ever! Now we can finally sort all this out!"

Cam smiled.

"I'm happy to help."

Sirena took a big breath, and then walked into the café. David looked up from his guitar, and his face lit up when he saw her. He got up and came over.

"Hey Sirena! I was just about to go find you. Ready for another song?" He held her hand.

Sirena nodded, a slight sad expression on her face. "Of course. But David, could you meet me on the beach tonight? There's something I have to tell you."

David looked at her curiously. "Is everything okay? Are you upset?" he asked sympathetically.

Sirena bit her lip and looked at her shoes. "Don't worry about me," she answered quickly. "I'll let you know after the sun goes down."

David hugged her tightly. "It surely couldn't be that bad. Wait, are you leaving, like you said before?"

She nodded worriedly. "Yes, but the situation I'm in is much worse than you could imagine," she whispered, her voice shuddering. "I promise I'll tell you tonight, but right now I guess we should make the most of being together on land."

David was confused. "On land?" he said. "What do you mean?"

"Like I told you before, you'll see tonight." Sirena replied. "Now let's go sing that song."

Lyla let herself in to Zac's room, closing the door gently behind her.

"Hey," she whispered. Then she saw the blood on his head, the upset look on his face. She rushed over to him. "Oh no!" she cried. Are you okay?"

"It's nothing," Zac murmured, staring at a photo in his hands. It was a picture taken of him and Evie on their anniversary date.

Lyla jumped up and wet a small cloth with cold water. She sat down and carefully pressed it to the red, swollen cut.

"What happened." She asked quietly, her arm around his shoulder.

"E- Evie." Zac answered, breathing slowly.

"You're bleeding. What did she do?" Lyla pressed on.

He swallowed hard, his body shaking. "Don't worry about me, Lyla. This is my own problem."

"She hurt you!"

"Just, drop it." Zac stood up and left the room.


	8. Secrets Revealed, then Disappeared

"_I thought that we could work this out, _

_But I guess that I was wrong,_

_After all this adventure, thick and thin,_

_It's my time to go home, home, home,_

_Home, home, home, home,_

_Now it's my time to leave,_

_I have to believe,_

_That none of this could ever,_

_Succeed."_

Sirena stepped back from the microphone while David played the instrumental. It was another song she'd written herself. Nixie and Lyla always complained that singing about her own life could give away the secret, but Sirena never listened.

Singing about her own problems made the dilemmas seem kind of peaceful, and anyway, the audience would never come to the conclusion that she was a mermaid, let alone lived in the sea. And David never got suspicious. He enjoyed playing songs about the ocean, which was an advantage for Sirena.

It suited the café, after all.

Nixie ran in through the doorway of Rita's cave, panting as though she'd ran the whole way home.

She had.

Lyla and Rita were practicing magic at the table.

"But aren't there any spells for healing?" Lyla's protests could be heard echoing loudly through the house.

Nixie nearly tripped as she jumped down the steps and leapt over to the table the other mermaids were sitting at.

"My dear friends, we have discovered the solution we have been waiting for, for a very long time!" She declared, waving a printed slip of paper in the air.

"What?" Lyla asked. "You don't look so angry at me anymore, is that supposed to be normal?"

Nixie rolled her eyes, and breathlessly slapped the paper down on the table. She'd printed the post from the internet that Cam had showed her earlier.

Rita stared at the paper in astonishment.

"Well, it makes clear sense," she said. "But are you sure what this person wrote is entirely true?"

"I'd be surprised if it wasn't," Nixie replied. "The guy who posted this has all this other really important, not to mention accurate, information on Mako Island on his page,"

Lyla frowned.

Nixie continued. "And, how could a land person know such information about this without studying the island for real?"

Rita grinned. "That's all I need to know," she said. "Next week, both Zac and Evie can be changed back to normal and you three can finally return to the pod!"

"And um, who supplied you this information?" Lyla questioned, narrowing her eyes.

Nixie hesitated, but then declared her reply confidently.

"Cam."

Lyla choked on the water she was sipping from a glass, and it sprayed everywhere.

"Argh!"

Rita whipped out a towel, and they all quickly dried themselves.

Lyla breathed slowly. "Wait….."

"WHAT?!"

"He is a good land boy now!" Nixie protested. "Cam told me that –"

"Cam told you some stupid lies that can give him more permission to get himself in that pool and betray us all, just like he tried to last time." Lyla interrupted, spitting the words in Nixie's face.

Nixie stood up and glared at her angrily.

"You have no choice but to witness me while I make the decision to trust the one I want!" she yelled, her fists clenched.

"You can't change my own choices!"

With that she was out the door and running.

"Nixie wants to be with Cam." Lyla exclaimed in disbelief.

She put her head in her hands, and then stared back at Rita. "I really can't believe how bad things have gotten now. First Zac gets hurt, now Nixie's fallen for Cam's stupid tricks again."

Rita looked doubtful.

"Surely Nixie would have good reason to do this. After all, you know what she was like about Cam ever since the trident incident. He must have done something really good to have her decide to trust him again." She said.

Lyla stood up, and headed up the steps.

"I'm going to talk to Zac." She decided.

The sun was drifting down, and the sky's light was fading. Sirena had finished her songs with David, and now they stood side by side on the jetty, looking over the edge at the starlit water.

"What is it that's bothering you so much, Sirena?" David asked, squeezing her cold, clammy hand. "Why do you have to leave?"

Sirena bit her lip and gazed out at Mako, where the moon shone brightly.

"I'm not from land," she whispered shakily.

"What? I don't understand." He said in confusion.

Sirena looked back at him, tears stinging her eyes.

"My home is Mako Island, I- I live with my pod in the ocean," she explained, taking short, anxious breaths.

"I'm a mermaid."

David was astonished, and stuttered in disbelief.

"Mermaids aren't re-"

Then he stopped himself. It was too true to be a lie. Everything from the past suddenly turned out blindingly obvious. Sirena's beautiful singing, her strange behavior when she first arrived in town, not to mention her weird secrecy with Lyla and Nixie. It all made perfect sense.

Sirena knew he was too overwhelmed to reply, so she continued speaking.

"Nixie and Lyla are mermaids too, and Zac…" she trailed off and decided to keep this a secret for Zac's sake. "Zac knows about us too."

David stared into her sparkling eyes, and a tiny smile appeared on his face.

"Don't worry, I'll never tell anybody about you." He finally answered. "You're too special to lose, Sirena."

She took a long sigh in relief, and stepped closer to the edge, where the dark water lapped quietly.

"Life is too hard on land, and I have to go back to my pod." Sirena explained.

"Why?"

"It's a story way too long to explain, but I want you to know that I'll always love you, David. Forever."

Then she was gone with a splash, and David saw the sparkling tail glitter in the moonlight before he lost her.


	9. Doubtful for the Future

Cam heard a knock on his door. Yawning, he stood up and sauntered over to answer it. It was only too obvious that he was hoping for Nixie to greet him on the doorstep. His face fell when he found Zac there instead.

"Wh… why are you here?"Cam asked, raising his eyebrows coldly.

Zac walked in and leaned against the wall.

"Why so angry? I mean, you betrayed me with that stupid trident, but surely you're not still fired up about that incident now, are you?"

Cam frowned, remembering that night he tried to take over Mako Island. Zac seemed to assume he was still that kind of person, though Cam knew inside he wasn't.

"It's not about that," he snapped.

Zac was taken aback.

"Ok… aay?"

Cam slammed the door shut, still in a hot temper.

"That's right. I've changed. But then you go and let Evie become a mermaid and totally leave me out of things!" he started to yell. Zac looked surprised, and he shifted back to the door.

"I didn't want Evie to get a tail! There was an accidental reason for that. Um. Maybe this wasn't a good time to come round. Bye."

He opened the door and immediately began to leave. Cam grabbed his arm.

"Wait! There's something you should know. The Camster's found another great solution for your fishy dilemmas!" he insisted.

Zac snickered.

"Yeah, like the Camster helped us last time!" he retorted. Cam pulled him back inside, and switched on his computer.

"You will call me the greatest Camster on earth when you see what I've found." He declared, and opened up all the information he'd found on the full moon that could take away somebody's tail forever.

Zac stared at the words on the document and re read them over and over.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. This was what everyone had been waiting for. Lyla's pod would return and Evie would lose her powers and so would… he. That was when his face fell, and he bit his lip. "Who else knows about this?" he asked.

"I told Nixie already…" Cam replied.

Zac rolled his eyes.

"How am I not surprised. Anyway, I have to go, bye." Then he left just as quickly as he'd came.

"Are we best mates again then?" Cam called after him as he ran after him across the lawn. But Zac was gone before he could hear him.

Nixie walked into the Ocean Café the next morning. David leaned against the counter, clearly absorbed in his mind as he stared into space.

Nixie sat down, and waited while David slowly straightened up and walked nervously over to her table to take her order.

"Um… seafood, I'm guessing?" he asked.

Nixie nodded.

"I'm surprised you remembered it's my favorite. One lobster please, with a serving of shrimps." She decided.

"No drink, right? You don't want to spill it on yourself." David whispered. Nixie frowned. David seemed to know something.

"Sirena must have said something to you about me." She blurted, looking at him curiously.

"Y- yes, she did, before she left." David replied in a low voice.

Nixie stopped twiddling her fingers abruptly.

"What did she say?"

"Um, about your secret thingy."

Nixie's mouth dropped open. Sirena blabbed!

"And what do you mean, she left?!" she exclaimed.

"She was going back to the sea." David answered quietly. Nixie immediately stood up and headed for the door.

"The lobster can wait for now." She muttered to him under her breath as she sprinted out the door and down the street.

By the time Zac had let himself in to his room, Lyla was already there waiting for him. She quickly stood up and walked over to him.

"Hey, Zac. You okay?"

Zac breathlessly sat down on the bed.

"Cam knows how we can turn Evie and me back to normal again!" he exclaimed.

Lyla frowned.

"Nixie already let me know about that," she said. "I didn't think it would be a very good idea to trust Cam. What if he's wrong?"

Zac held her hand.

"Well, there's still the quite likely chance of the information to be right, and it's definitely worth going to Mako that night if it could be true." Zac replied uneasily.

Lyla nodded slowly, deciding that perhaps he was right. Then she thought about the pod. They could finally return after Zac and Evie changed back to normal! But what about Zac? She'd never see him again.

He wouldn't be a part of this anymore, and the old life of no mermen and no land people would come back. She would never swim with him again, never even see him again. This wasn't right at all.


	10. Not much Hope

Nixie bumped into Lyla in the street, as they were both on their way back to Rita's.

"Sirena told David that we're mermaids and she left us to go back to the pod!" Nixie exclaimed the second Lyla appeared in her eyesight.

Lyla had an equal look of terror in her eyes.

"I don't want Zac to return to normal because I love him and yes he isn't with Evie anymore because she punched him in the face!" she shouted, trying to be louder.

A look of betrayal crossed Nixie's face.

"Do you not care about the pod anymore? You don't want Zac to turn back and that will mean the pod never returns. That means you won't see Sirena again, either!"

"I still want the pod back, but they are going to have to tolerate Zac's tail when they come back to Mako because he is too much for me to lose!" Lyla shot back hotly.

Nixie was fuming at this point, and she started to yell.

"Well maybe I do see how strong you are against the pod, Lyla, because I can tell they will never come back, not now, not ever, because that stupid land boy is not going to help us! No point trying now, Lyla. Forget it. I have a love in my life too, and maybe Cam is more special to me than you, or Sirena! Legs will do just fine for me, and here on land, will be my home. It's a life better than the sea by far, if it's not spent with you!"

Nixie stormed angrily away and ran off in the opposite direction, where Cam's house was located just down the street.

Lyla sobbed into her hands and very, very slowly, made her way up to Rita's house. She let herself in as quiet as a mouse and ran upstairs to bury her head in a pillow. Her cries were heard all over the house, but she was the only one there.

Sirena had been swimming for so long that her tail and arms could hardly move any more. Her eyelids flickered as she remembered the long days she had travelled without food, through cold, unfamiliar oceans.

Suddenly, she spotted tiny specks in the distance. Mermaids. She'd found the pod! Aquata must have been right when she showed her the direction many months ago, when she had been given the offer to leave – that she'd turned down.

Propelling herself faster, Sirena felt a surge of hope when she made out in her gaze the long lost family of mermaids she'd missed for so long now.

After ten minutes or so, she arrived in the location where hundreds of familiar, as well as new – mermaids roamed the reefs and darted in and out of caves, their moon rings shining on their fingers.

Sirena picked out Aquata from the crowd, and zoomed over to greet her. An excited smile lit up Aquata's face and they both swam to the surface to talk.

"Aquata!" Sirena cried, sobbing into her sister's arms in relief.

"Sirena! I can't believe you've found your way back! The journey must have been so tiring for you, all alone my little one!" she exclaimed, happy tears in her eyes.

"Not anymore," Sirena whispered, still breathing deeply. She held up her moon ring. "I've earned my ring by helping the others save the moon pool from the trident. It's destroyed now."

Aquata sighed in happiness.

"That's the best news I've heard for ages!" she cried. "I'm so proud of you, and your friends! Come and meet the other mermaids, I know it's been ages since you've seen the rest of the pod, and there's some new mermaids that welcomed us here, you'll love them."

"Okay!" Sirena was relieved that Aquata hadn't asked her why she'd returned, it was too much explaining for her now that she was so tired. She followed her into an underwater cave that led to a pool similar to the moon pool from Mako.

"So, how much longer until this miracle full moon?" Nixie asked Cam, while she cuddled up with him on his sofa. She loved how warm he felt.

"One week and four days left." Cam answered.

"So, this article said the first time in fifty years all the planets are aligned with the moon," Nixie thought aloud. "If the last time was in 2007, like the article said, that would make this year 2057!"

"But… it's 2013," Cam replied, frowning.

"Exactly." Nixie finished, confused.

"Then if the planets are all aligned with the moon twice in fifty years, who knows what this extra special moon pool magic will do?!" Cam exclaimed.

"Probably nothing other than take away the powers," Nixie answered doubtfully. "I don't think any change would happen just because it's twice in 50 years. Let's not worry about it."

At least Nixie didn't want to worry about it. She still hadn't told Cam about her desire to turn herself into a land girl forever, in case he did anything to stop her. Cam didn't still want to be a merman, did he?


	11. The Pod's welcome

Nixie surfaced in the moon pool, followed by Evie.

"Our chance is coming," Nixie said. "Our chance to get you and Zac back to normal."

"Oh, I'm really glad," Evie sighed. "But I haven't spoken to Zac since…"

Nixie pulled herself out of the water and dried off.

"That's the thing," she murmured, folding her arms and walking around the cave, peering up at the blue sky through the top of the volcano. "There's no way that he'll want to return to being a land boy now, he's stuck on Lyla like a barnacle on a rock."

Evie bit her lip, and then tried to push the thought out of her mind.

"Well, um, you won't exactly be alone going into the pool," Nixie leaned against the wall.

"What do you mean?" Evie asked.

"I'm going too."

"What?!"

Nixie sighed and nodded.

"I'm going to turn myself into a land girl forever." She said, scuffing sand under her shoe.

Evie frowned in confusion.

"But why? I thought your aim in all this was to go back to your pod."

Nixie shook her head, suddenly angry.

"It's Lyla," she muttered. "Of all the mermaids in the world, she is not the one I want to return to the sea with."

Evie half smiled in understanding.

"I know the feeling. I mean, I know what it's like to hate her."

"Right." Nixie said. "So it's me and you going into the pool next week, Tuesday night. And Zac, if he comes, though not likely."

"Right." Evie agreed.

Nixie dove into the water and they both swam off.

When they got to land, Nixie left Evie and walked off, along the jetty, hands in pockets.

What if Cam still wanted to be a merman? How could she stop him going if it wasn't right to tell him yet that she was turning herself into a land girl just to be with him?

Nixie decided to head back to Rita's house. Lyla had been out somewhere, and Rita was at work. Maybe she could have some time alone to think.

This 'twice in fifty years' thing seemed a bit doubtful. How the hell could all the planets be aligned with the moon twice the time it was supposed to? Did that mean the planets started going went backwards?

But if this science genius Lewis McCartney posted it, surely the facts would be correct.

Nixie had searched up Lewis's other information on Mako and it seemed that he knew a lot. In 2009 he had posted some familiar information about blue crystals forming in Mako's cave walls. They sounded a lot like the stones used to create moon rings, plus the bigger stone in the trident.

Weird. This guy definitely knew about mermaids. After all, his web page had a lot of links to mermaid mythology, mermaid facts, mermaid stories, and so on.

According to his page, Lewis had stopped posting information at about 2010. Nixie remembered that was the year the pod moved to live by the island.

His age was said to be almost 23 years old now, so that meant he was a teenager in the time he studied Mako. He had begun doing this about the same age as her and the others, sixteen.

**(Author's note: I suppose this really should be a crossover since I'm including Lewis in this, but the storyline is not to do with H2o at all, and I don't think they will meet him in the story. Sorry for any misunderstanding.)**

So weird. Nixie carried on walking up the hill to Rita's house with her hands in her pockets. A frown creased her eyebrows.

Meanwhile…

**(Author's note: I'm doing 'meanwhiles' now instead of just making a new line, hopefully it will make it easier to understand the story.)**

Sirena nibbled crab in one of the new water caves with Aquata, Maya (Aquata's friend), and a new mermaid called Lily – one of the mermaids that had welcomed the Mako Island pod to the new home.

This new place was called River Island - the trees were much greener than Mako's, and the waters were much clearer and there wasn't a land person in sight, but Sirena still missed Mako terribly.

She missed David, she missed Rita, and Posiedon and… she had to admit, she missed Lyla and Nixie too. Would they still be able to sort themselves out without her?

Sirena knew those two would be arguing like crazy, especially without her to be the peacemaker. But she felt as if she were on holiday being here, perhaps it would be safe to put the problems back home out of her mind for now.

Sinking her teeth into the crab's shell, she sighed at all the relaxation of being part of a pod came back to her.

A major difference about being back with the pod, a few of the River Island mermaids had green tails.

Another huge change, there were a couple of mermen too. They had blue tails similar to Zac but it was a slightly darker shade, and was on the whole tail instead of white on one side. The River Island mermaids were completely comfortable with them, so Sirena decided to be too.

The addition of the Mako Island pod's slightly pinkish golden scales made the pod look like a rainbow. Who would have thought? Green, Blue, Gold. Beautiful, really.

"The crabs here are great." Sirena smiled.

"If you like the crabs, you don't know what you're in for," said Aquata.

"That's right," grinned the green tailed Lily, who had light brown hair and was about the same age as Sirena. "There's heaps of songs we know and like to sing, if you do too."

"Sounds amazing!" Sirena replied, knowing that her return to the pod was a choice well made.

But would her friends back home cope without her?


	12. Need for Love

"So two more days until the full moon." Lyla announced, sitting down next to Zac on the sofa in his house. Zac put his head in his hands, staring sadly at the floor. "And… I don't want you to change back to normal." She whispered softly, looking into his eyes.

"My thoughts exactly." He answered, looking back up at her.

Then Lyla gasped, remembering Nixie's words.

"Surely the pod will still return, now the trident' been destroyed and you aren't our enemy anymore," she said. "But we have to stop Nixie from going into the pool. Even though we've been fighting, I don't want her to stay on land. Cam could betray her again, and then she'd be stuck as a land girl for no reason."

Zac nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, you're right. Perhaps your moon ring can stop her, like it did with Cam?"

Lyla bit her lip.

"I hope so. My ring's been a little bit out of control ever since I used it on Evie." She sighed. "I still regret that. I'm sorry."

Zac hugged her tightly and they lay back on the couch together. He kissed her on the head reassuringly.

"I'm here for you," he said. "Whatever happens, I always will."

A grateful smile relaxed Lyla's face, and he snuggled closer.

"That's what I love about you."

Meanwhile, a long, long way away…

"_Waiting on a smile, since we first met,_

_Waiting on a smile from you._

_We belong as two,_

_Every day and night I dream of you."_

Tears spilled down Sirena's cheeks as she floated in the dark blue water alone underneath the black night sky that was lit up with an almost-full moon. David's friendly smile lit up in her mind and she cried more and more.

Slowly turning back to River Island, she dove down into the waves to return to Aquata. Her moon ring had seemed to have lost its shine ever since she'd left the Gold Coast, and her singing voice came out cracked between bitter sobs.

Being away from home for so long was really tearing her up. What if it were best to go back? Would Lyla and Nixie not welcome her if she did?

Aquata and Maya surfaced beside her.

"Aren't you coming back to the cave for the night?" Aquata asked.

Sirena shook her head.

"No," she answered sadly. "I um, I want to be alone right now."

Aquata whispered in Maya's ear and she nodded and swam away. Aquata turned back to Sirena and the two sisters glided over to a rock where they rested their arms.

"What's going on?" Aquata asked softy. "Why is my little sister so upset?"

Another sob shook Sirena's shoulders.

"This isn't right anymore." She responded. "I have to go back to Mako, I can't go on without Lyla and Nixie. I can't go for any longer without David. It's been great coming back to the pod again, but my heart is back home, where I truly belong."

Aquata hugged her tightly.

"You are so brave, Sirena." She smiled. "And there's nothing I'm going to do to stop you from being with the ones you love, and perhaps one day the pod will return to Mako Island, and life will be just like it always was."

Sirena buried her head in her sister's grip.

"Thank you so much Aquata, I love you so much." She sighed in relief. "I think we should sing one last song together before I leave tomorrow."

Aquata didn't need to be told twice.

"_Going far away, across the sea…" _

Sirena joined in.

"_This moon, keeps haunting me. As I spread my wings, and soar above, it's you, you're guiding me."_

Back at the Gold Coast…

Cam lay in his bed, thinking hard. Nixie didn't know it, but more than anything he still wished he could be a merman. Not because he wanted power, not because he wanted revenge, but it would be his key to be the perfect one for Nixie, to fit his piece into the puzzle.

If Evie got to be one, so could he. And Zac would do absolutely nothing to stop him this time. But he needed to prove to everyone else that he wasn't a bad person anymore, he just felt increasingly left out, plus, Nixie was all that mattered now.

Her beautiful face flashed in his mind all the time, and the fact that she liked him back lit up his heart. With so many thoughts zooming around in his head, Cam suddenly realized he hadn't done his homework assignment.


End file.
